Guillain-Barre Syndrome DOES NOT HAVE TO WIN. WE CAN HELP TO RAISE AWARENESS! It is absolutely amazing. It is Truly amazing how this disease can cause your body to suffer TOTAL PARALYSIS! You have complete awareness of everything around. You during the time that you are not under the effects of sedation and Analgesia. You know that you cannot move and yet you can hear people talking. The INLY WAY THAT YOU CAN COMMUNICATE WITH OTHERS IS TO BLINK YOUR EYES. DURING THE SEDATION WHEN YOU ARE IN THE ICU YOU DREAM SO STRANGELY! It is amazing how some of the dreams can take your brain almost to outer space so it seems. A critical care bed is in a state of PRESET ROTATION! You feel the bed rotating you and you hear the hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm of the blower that continuously controls air inside of the beds air mattress. You feel as if you were inside a moat that is out on sea. You feel everything and you know that something is not right. You will often feel the pins and needles that continuously bother you. Sometimes you feel as if somebody is passing a continuous electrical current through your body. Well most of the time it is continuous but sometimes it is a pulsating current Sometimes it is just vibrations you feel. Sometimes you may not even feel it. Sometimes it feels as if your body is covered in flames. Sometimes you feel as if you are being squeezed to death with something. With Guillain-Barre Syndrome All of these feelings continue and then you get the feeling that something is under you vibrating. You later realize after you have been weaned somewhat off of your sedation and your analgesic medications that it is your critical care bed that is performing these percussions and vibrations on you to help to remove your secretions. You undergo this procedure numerous times throughout the day and you undergo that along with Intrapulmonary Percussive Ventilation, suctioning, And of course the Continuous Lateral Rotation Therapy that your current surface A CRITICAL CARE UNIT BED, is performing to prevent bed rest associated complications such as Pneumonia, Pressure ulcers, ARDS AND OTHER Complications. I did go on to develop ARDS, SEPSIS, VAP, and a PE At one point. That is a Pulmonary Embolism But it was only a very minor one. THE Thought that you could end up suffering sooooooo much is indescribable. The thought that YOU SUFFERED IT AND THAT YOU SURVIVED IT IS BEYOND SOMETHING THAT NONE OF US COULD OR EVER WILL BE CAPABLE OF PUTTING INTO WIORDS! It at first seems like a bad case of THE STOMACH VIRUS! BUT THAT STOMACH BUG CAM Barium Enema MUCH MUCH MUCH MUCH MORE THAN JUST A SIMPLE VIRUS! If YOUR STAY IN THE ICU WAS NOT BAD ENOUGH, You will experience what can and what most likely will be a very very long road to recovery. You will undergo weeks or maybe months of rehabilitation. You may as in my case still not be recovered fully within a year. You may in fact still require a hospital bed at home You may experience a LOT MORE! I want you to know that it is important to keep going though. There IS RECOVERY IN THE FUTURE! It ceryaiy does seem scary and it may still give you nightmares afterwards like me. But there is an end. You just have to continue to work at it giving it everything that you have in you. You have to keep going. Guillain-Barre Syndrome WILL NOT SUCCEED IN THE END! YOU WILL GET THROUGH IT! I know this from first hand. You will often get down and lose hope, but it is of such profound importance that you keep going.